GoldenWriting

04/30/2025

The surveillance state via the US Postal Service. Bad for immigrants. Bad for the rest of us. Once they have the tools in place, how else will they use them against citizens?

“The Inspection Service is very, very nervous about this,” a source said of the pairing.

04/26/2025

It’s that time of the year again when we get to openly ogle other people’s kitchens and bathrooms — and take inspiration for reinventing our own. The San Diego chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers is holding its self-guided ASID Kitchen and Bath Tour 2025 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 3.

The tour will feature eight homes in San Diego. Two of them are 100-year-old Spanish-style homes in Kensington — and both feature the creative work of interior designer Sheryl Wohl Chaffee, who is also a Kensington resident. I featured her projects in my new story for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Home and Garden section. Take a look and get your tickets for the Tour. Info is at the bottom of my story.

Two 100-year-old kitchens in Kensington, part of the self-guided, eight-home tour on May 3, reflect dramatic updates

04/23/2025

Well, two stories in the UT in one week and I’ve been waiting with anticipation for this piece to come out. It’s spring, and asparagus is at peak season. There are few people I know who don’t love it, but I did recently mention to someone that I was going to be writing about it, and I got that classic crinkled nose. How do you prepare it, I asked? When she said she boiled it, it was clear that her lack of enthusiasm was justified. Boiling is fine, but, oh, there are so many better ways to prepare it that will make you lust for spring just so you can eat those slender green spears.

I have my favorite go-to techniques but went to chef Kelli Crosson, executive chef at The Lodge at Torrey Pines in La Jolla for inspiration for new ways to think about asparagus—and she delivered. Not only did she prepare three very distinctive dishes for me, but also offered some tips for selecting and preparing them. You’ll want all of this, including the recipes, in my new story for The San Diego Union-Tribune. Special thanks for the mouth-watering photography by K.C. Alfred!

Executive chef Kelli Crosson at The Lodge at Torrey Pines shares recipes to take advantage of vegetable’s peak season

04/23/2025

Chances are you’re reading this on a bright, sunny spring day — a typical SoCal experience. It’s a vibe we tend to bring into our homes, with an emphasis on light-filled rooms and breezy decor. So, why would we want to add moodiness to our delightful sun-drenched world?

But moodiness is a decor choice, and while it might not translate well in home kitchens or living spaces in our part of the world, it can be a great choice for, say, a guest bathroom or powder room. Think of it as an enticing ornament you can share with guests — a space small enough that you can have fun playing around with the concept. I learned the do’s and don’ts of creating a moody bathroom from three local interior designers and am sharing their ideas with readers in my new story for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Home and Garden section. Hope you find inspiration!

Darkness, drama and intimacy intertwine in ‘moody’ bathroom design; San Diego designers share how to get the look

03/12/2025

Here’s some unsolicited advice: Don’t brag to your Irish friends that you’re having corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day. And especially not to Chef Maeve Rochford, owner of La Jolla’s Sugar and Scribe, whose mother, Mary Margaret Rochford, was born in Ireland.

According to Rochford, corned beef and cabbage has nothing to do with either Ireland or St. Patrick’s Day. It’s actually an Irish American dish that originated with the immigrants who arrived in New York at the turn of the last century: the Irish who were poor and couldn’t afford what they considered traditional Irish bacon and the Jews who made more affordable corned beef. Put together corned beef with Irish-style cabbage and potatoes and you have a dish people have been associating with St. Patrick’s Day for more than a century.

What we have instead in my new article for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Food section is Rochford’s traditional Irish meal for the holiday, straight from her grandmother’s Irish kitchen: Guinness Beef Stew; Soda Bread; a salad featuring fennel, gooseberries and Cashel blue cheese; and Butter Pound Cake With Rhubarb Compote. You’ll have the recipes and techniques to create a gorgeous, authentic meal for friends and family. And, as always, many thanks to the talented (and award-winning) Alejandro Tamayo for making beautiful photos!

Menu from chef-owner Maeve Rochford of Sugar and Scribe harkens back to her Irish grandmother’s family meals

03/06/2025

When was the last time you made a family weekend breakfast? We’re not talking a smoothie or power bar on the run, but an actual meal that had everyone in your household sitting around the table eating food you (all?) prepared with love, and actually having a conversation with devices put away.

Yep, we’re all busy. Maybe you’ve got work to do or a kid’s soccer practice or games to attend or four loads of laundry facing you. But how about carving out some regular weekend breakfast time for you, your family or your friends so you can reconnect? Even relax?

If cooking and relaxing seem like an oxymoron, I have recipes in my new story for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Food section for three irresistible dishes — Green Shakshuka, a Kitchen Herb Frittata, and Torrijas French Toast — from chef Wesley Johnson of Urban Kitchen Group, that you can prep in advance and just heat and put together in the morning. (Many thanks to the fabulous K.C. Alfred for his remarkable photos!)

Creative family-size recipes from San Diego chef Wesley Johnson of The Kitchen at MCASD

03/03/2025

We hear a lot about people giving up televisions in their homes. But Nielsen data estimates that the U.S. has 125 million TV households, meaning a little less than 97 percent of U.S. households, have at least one TV. That’s a heck of a lot of people trying to figure out how to work that television into the design of the room where it hangs — or sits. It could be in the living room or family room, but also a bedroom or the kitchen. And, yes, for some, even the bathroom. My new story for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Home and Garden section draws on the expertise of local interior designers for ways to help you choose the right TV and the right space for it so that it fits into your room’s aesthetics. (P.S. Can you figure out where the TV is in the room below? Read my story to figure it out!)

For The Union-Tribune We hear a lot about people giving up televisions in their homes. About a year ago, a Gen Z writer for CNET covering TVs noted that data (and her cohort of friends) show that t…

10/25/2024

San Diegans are well aware of the abundance provided by geography and climate, as well as our diverse population, but you might not be aware of the breadth of eateries from Oceanside and Escondido down to Chula Vista — and perhaps you’re a home cook who’d like to make some of the dishes you’ve enjoyed in these restaurants in your own kitchen. Writer Ligaya Malones and photographer Deanna Sandoval have just published “San Diego Cooks: Recipes from the Region’s Favorite Eateries, Bakeries, and Bars”, a book that invites readers to explore the variety of culinary talent we have in San Diego County—and then cook from it.

I interviewed Malones and wrote a piece on the book (including recipes) for The San Diego Union-Tribune. If you love to eat and love to cook, this is a book worth exploring.

70 recipes from 35 area restaurants, bakeries and bars unveiled in new regional collection

10/21/2024

How do you display your books--outside of conventional bookcases or shelves? Do you make use of the spaces under your staircase? Have them within a coffee table or end table? Something else?

10/19/2024

Love birds? Have kids who love birds? Then you’ll want to put this San Diego Bird Alliance 75th anniversary community celebration in your calendar. On Oct. 20, San Diego’s avian-aligned will be gathering at Liberty Station’s South Promenade from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for a day of music, art, food, live bird demonstrations, games and exhibits.

All of this is being organized by the San Diego Bird Alliance, a name that may not be familiar to some. In fact, it’s the new (since August) name of the San Diego Audubon Society. Learn more about the event and the evolution of the San Diego Bird Alliance, as well as their future plans, in my new story in The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Home and Garden section.

San Diego Bird Alliance to present free community celebration Oct. 20 in Liberty Station

10/16/2024

You’ve probably heard of master gardeners, the volunteers with horticultural training offered by universities who then go out into their communities, offering lectures, helping to create gardens, and answering home gardening questions.

Well, now in San Diego we also have master food preservers. They, too, undergo extensive training and then serve the public. Their instruction can bring a whole new level of opportunities for making the most of a good harvest or enjoying seasonal produce year round. And it can give home cooks who have been canning curious the confidence to tackle it safely. Learn more about these well-trained instructors and get some recipes in my new story for The San Diego Union-Tribune’s Food section. Many thanks to Alejandro Jose Tamayo for his beautiful photos! Fiume UCCE Master Food Preservers of San Diego County

With a focus on food safety, 20 program grads offer instruction and demonstrations, answer questions for public